


Somniphobia

by APocketSizedAce



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Gen, Genji lowkey taking on the older brother role, Hopefully no murdering this time, Seriously this omnic is beautiful and pure they deserve more love, There's not enough bastion fanfiction in this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9649892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APocketSizedAce/pseuds/APocketSizedAce
Summary: Somniphobia is defined as "a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of sleep"Bastion can't shut down on their own. Normally Zenyatta is the one to take care of them, but with him away on a mission the task falls to his brightest student.





	

  To everyone’s surprise, they didn’t have many problems with the Bastion Unit. The hulking Omnic had been there 2 weeks and so far, nothing had gone wrong. Nobody mowed down by bullets or furniture destroyed, not even a broken plate. The worst thing that had happened was having to clean bird poop off the floors, annoying but unavoidable with Ganymede following Bastion everywhere.

  It wasn't until Winston had wanted to do some repairs that things started going wrong.

  The years deactivated in the forest had left the Omnic’s coding in disarray and their memory scrambled. The scientist thought if he could fix up their processor they might remember something about the Omnic Crisis. Perhaps they’d learn more about the motive behind the attack. So he’d proposed the idea to the Siege-Automaton and they’d agreed.

  It wasn’t a problem until they were sitting in his lab and he told them he’d have to shut them down for the repairs. Bastion had scrambled away, surprisingly nimble for their size. Frantic chirps and whirrs came out of their speakers as they ran off. That wasn’t good. As docile as they might appear they still had combat programming. Winston wasn’t sure if it could be triggered by panic; but with a 7 foot 4 heavily armed Omnic it was better safe than sorry. Even though they had no ammo it wouldn’t be hard for them to break bones with a single punch.

  Winston looked to one of the cameras in the lab. “Athena, could you alert Genji for me?” He asked. Normally he would have asked Zenyatta, but the monk was currently off in Ilios with other Overwatch members. They were on standby after they’d received a tip about an upcoming Talon Attack a week ago. The rest remained in the base, in case anything else came up. Hopefully the Omnic’s student could fill in for him, and avoid getting crushed.

* * *

 

  It did not take long to find Bastion. The cyborg didn’t even have to look hard, he knew exactly where they’d be going. Mei had set up a small garden of potted plants in a spare room which, despite not being their assigned room, the Siege-Automaton had taken up residence in. That fact was obvious with Ganymede’s nest resting on the window sill. So Genji deliberately made his footsteps loud as he approached the door, not wanting to startle the Omnic. “Bastion?” He asked as he pushed the door open.

  They were crouching in the corner, gently petting Ganymede. Their posture reminded Genji of a spooked rabbit, trying to make themselves as small as possible. Bastion looked back at him, chirping quietly in greeting. Genji took this as an invitation to take a seat beside them, being sure to remain in their line of sight as he walked over.

  “Athena told me what happened,” He said. “Are you alright?” He could only understand a handful of the sounds the Omnic made, thanks to Zenyatta. Not enough to really hold up a conversation, but he could translate in a pinch. Hopefully some kind words of his own would be comfort enough.

  Their fans were whirring loudly and their body held an anxious tension. A few moments passed. “ _No_.” was the Bastion Unit’s response.

  Genji expected that, and chose his next words carefully. “It’s alright to be afraid of repairs. Having someone’s hands on your brain sounds really scary,” He said. “but Winston knows what he’s doing.” That last bit _may_ have been a lie. The gorilla was _qualified_ , but he’d never worked on an Omnic’s processor before. No need to worry them further though.

  Tentatively, the cyborg laid a hand on part of their arm that wasn’t covered in flora. The metal under his touch was scorching and he withdrew immediately. “Bastion you’re overheating!” He exclaimed. The massive Omnic simply shrunk down smaller, as if ashamed. “When was the last time you shut down?” He asked them, trying not to sound accusing. Nonetheless, Bastion somehow looked even more anxious than before. They had been ignoring the warnings popping up over their HUD for a long time.

  “I’m not angry,” Genji backpedalled. “Just worried. It’s not healthy to run your systems for so long, you could crash.” They don’t respond for a long minute. Then they release a series of chirps that he knows mean _Afraid_ , which didn’t make much sense to the cyborg. They were scared of shutting down? He didn’t think Omnics had nightmares, _but_ he’d never asked if they could. And Zenyatta had told him that Bastion very likely had a case of PTSD... Bad dreams weren’t that unlikely. But they still needed to shut off before they melted something important.

  “Um,” Genji began, feeling awkward. “Would it help if I stayed with you?” Bastion beeped enthusiastically and the ninja smiled under his mask. “Alright, come on and get comfortable.” He told them and moved to lean against the wall. The Siege-Automaton shifted beside him, sitting with their knees tucked under their chest. Ganymede settled atop their shoulder, the layer of grass lessening the heat. They still seemed anxious though, so Genji slipped his hand into theirs. The temperature was scalding, but Bastion visibly relaxed so he ignored it.

  After only a few more moments they said something Genji didn’t understand, and then light in their optic dimmed. Not a true shut down, just sleep mode. This mode still used power, but it would give their body the rest it needed. He listened to the whine of their overtaxed systems finally winding down and felt relieved. The cyborg didn’t think very many of Overwatch’s members would care very much if the Bastion Unit melted their processor, they were tolerated at most by the bulk of the team. But Genji liked them and he knew his master did too. There’s something fitting about Bastion, a machine built for war covered in flowers. He thought it matched their personality, curious innocence in a body easily capable of destruction.

  True to his word, Genji doesn’t leave them, even though the Siege-Automaton is dead to the world at the moment. He uses the time to reflect more on his companion, and what will happen in the future. Zarya and Torbjörn hadn’t been very quiet about their opinions on the matter and Zenyatta had been running damage control with Bastion. Luckily for the two former the Omnic didn’t become angry when insulted, instead getting upset and running off. So far neither had been foolish enough to make the Siege-Automaton feel threatened, but the ninja would not put it past them. Rage could turn the most rational being primal, one only had to look at Winston to know that.

* * *

 

  Genji’s musings were interrupted by the door being opened. Zenyatta entered the room and noticed the two of them. While the Omnic didn’t have many facial expressions, the cyborg _swore_ he was smiling. “Hello.” He greeted, amused affection in his voice. He floated over to Bastion’s other side and sank to the floor beside them. “I’m surprised you got them to shut down,” The monk said. “They can be very stubborn when they choose to be.”

  There was silence for a beat before Genji spoke up. “Master, do Omnics dream? I don’t believe I’ve ever asked.” He didn’t _think_ they did, but despite his appearance he wasn’t an Omnic himself, so he could not be sure.

  “We do not in the way humans do, no. We experience memory replays,” Zenyatta answered. “Our processor organizes data and gets rid of unnecessary memory files while we’re in sleep mode.” The monk seems to ponder his next word choice before speaking up again. “Are you concerned for Bastion, my student?” Genji nods, looking down at the hand intertwined with his own.

  “So far they haven’t had any issue with memory replays,” The Omnic said. “It’s the idea of shutting down that scares them. They were left deactivated in that forest for years, they’re afraid of waking up a decade later again.” It makes perfect sense, the cyborg wonders how he didn’t come to that conclusion on his own. “That’s why Bastion can’t go into sleep mode alone.”

  “So that’s the reason you’ve been spending nights in their room?” Genji asks and his teacher nods. It’s just like Zenyatta to be there for someone at any hour of the day, he thinks. Still, that had to be taxing, trying to convince a traumatized Omnic to rest. “I wouldn’t mind sleeping in here occasionally.” He comments and got the feeling that his master was smiling again.

  There’s a hint of pride in Zenyatta’s voice when he speaks. “I think they’d appreciate that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive me for anything that may seem out of character, this is my first time writing with these characters. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it!


End file.
